Sports

LONDON: Manchester City assistant manager David Platt has urged his players to bounce back with victory over Birmingham after their goal-less Premier League stalemate in the Manchester derby.
City's tactics against arch-rivals Manchester United on Wednesday have been widely criticised as negative following 90 minutes of risk-free football where neither goalkeeper was seriously tested.
Yet Platt has shrugged off criticism of the performance, noting that City remain in

PARIS: Roger Federer continued his current hot streak as the Swiss claimed a place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters as the final lineup for the eight-man year-end championships in London was settled Thursday.
The top seed, who is bidding for a third consecutive trophy after winning Stockholm and Basel, dispatched Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, firing 11 aces, saving two break points and winning his tenth match from 12 against the Czech.
The win was a re-run of a

MELBOURNE: Bogeys outnumbered birdies as Tiger Woods struggled to keep in touch with the lead halfway through the Australian Masters on a trying day at Melbourne's Victoria Golf Club on Friday.
The 14-time Major winner laboured to a one-over 72 to concede 36-hole pacesetter Adam Bland a widening nine strokes in blustery conditions with the weather forecast to further deteriorate for Saturday's third round. Woods has the job ahead as he searches for his breakthrough tournament

LAHORE: Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board for its handling of the Zulqarnain Haider issue.
"It's the inability of the board that has left the players insecure and vulnerable. I feel that the PCB is not capable of handling Pakistan cricket. It has failed to strike a bond of trust with the players which has left players insecure and vulnerable. There is a lack of direction and leadership in the PCB and the controversies have been a

LAHORE: Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider has offered to work with the International Cricket Council to eradicate the menace of match-fixing from the game. Haider said that any player involved in match-fixing should be banned for life and offered his complete help to end the corruption from cricket.
"If the International Cricket Council wants to eradicate corruption from the game, it should start tapping the telephonic conversations of suspected players and monitor their

LAHORE: More than half a dozen current Pakistani cricket players are likely to be dumped for the forthcoming World Cup due to their involvement in the alleged match-fixing saga.
Chances are that beleaguered Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider would be among the cricketers that also involve wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, leg-spiner Danish Kaneria and Yasir Hameed apart from the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir.
It has been learnt that the PCB

DUBAI: Rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Graeme Smith geared up for a spin battle in the first Test starting here from Friday, as Pakistan seek their first series win in four years.
Pakistan's last Test series win was against the West Indies at home in 2006 and since then they have lost six and drawn the remaining three, but newly inducted captain Misbah hopes his team makes a fresh start at Test cricket's newest venue.
"We are focusing only on cricket and will play to our

LAHORE: At a time when the International Cricket Council has offered help to Zulqarnain Haider, the Pakistan Cricket Board has suspended his stipend contract and formed a fact-finding committee.
An official of the PCB said: "He has violated terms and conditions of the contract. "A fact-finding committee has been formulated to establish the truth surrounding the incident of Haider's disappearance from the Team Hotel," he added.
The committee includes Subhan Ahmad (PCB),

DUBAI: The chief executive of cricket's governing body on Wednesday said an urgent solution would be sought in resolving the case of three Pakistani players who have been suspended for suspected spot-fixing.
Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) last month following spot-fixing allegations. The suspensions, handed down by the Pakistan Cricket Board, followed allegations in the

KARACHI/DUBAI: Former captain Imran Khan has called for a clean-up of Pakistan cricket and said wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider's sudden exit to Britain to seek asylum was a "shameful' incident.
"Sadly this incident only gives credence to the feeling our players are linked with bookmakers or are controlled by them. The recent spot-fixing allegations have not been helpful at all for Pakistan cricket," the former captain said.
Zulqarnain fled the team's hotel in Dubai on

DUBAI: Pakistan will hope to put a series of on- and off-field problems behind them and build under new captain Misbah-ul-Haq when they play the first Test against South Africa starting here on Friday.
Pakistan's last Test against England at Lord's in August has been a subject of separate inquiries from Scotland Yard and the International Cricket Council (ICC) after a British newspaper report claimed several of its players accepted money from match-fixers.
Test captain

DUBAI: Pakistan on Tuesday included uncapped wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez in their squad for the two Test matches against South Africa starting later this week.
Pakistan were forced to make the changes after their regular keeper Zulqarnain Haider fled the team hotel in Dubai on Monday and flew to London after reportedly receiving death threats from an unknown person.
"Adnan has been included in the Test squad as replacement for Haider and we have asked

DUBAI: Cricket's governing body on Tuesday called for more co-operation from international cricketers after Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider fled the team hotel here claiming he had received death threats.
The 24-year-old Haider, who was here with the Pakistan team to play South Africa, Monday fled to London without telling the team management and Anti-corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of the International Cricket Council (ICC) of the threats.
ICC chief executive

GUANGZHOU: Defending champions Qatar were given an almighty fright by India on Tuesday before sending them to the verge of elimination from the Asian Games tournament, with Bangladesh also looking at an early trip home. India took the lead but the Qataris battled back to score twice in the last 10 minutes of their Group D game and secure a 2-1 win.
It left the Indians with no points and virtually no hope of qualifying for the knockout rounds. Singapore are also in trouble after

Lahore: Opening match of the Army Hockey Championship was played today between Lahore Zone and Quetta Zone in the National Hockey Stadium Lahore. Both teams battled it out for a draw with 2 goals each.
Waqar Zafar of Lahore Zone and Nadeem Sarwar Quetta Zone scored 2 goals each for their teams. The championship is being organised by Lahore Corps at the National Hockey Stadium synthetic pitch.
Army Hockey Championship will be held on a single league basis from 9th to 15th

NEW DELHI: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have joined hands with the aim of putting on a memorable World Cup as cricket's showpiece event is played in South Asia for the third time.
A hundred days ahead of the February 17 opening ceremony in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, the International Cricket Council gave a thumbs-up to the work done by the three host nations.
"I am confident we will get a good tournament," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat told AFP. "Preparations

PARIS: Roger Federer arrived Monday on the back of two successive tournament titles, with the world number two eager to bid for a hat-trick as top seed at the Paris Masters.
The Swiss legend has a first round bye and will play France's world ranked number 28 Richard Gasquet, who edged compatriot Nicolas Mahut in 3 sets, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) Monday evening.
Before travelling from his hometown of Basel, Federer admitted that he needs to recover energy before taking to the